Guitar-rest.



c. 1. RUSSELL.

GUITAR REST. APPLICATION FILED MAY I0, IB-IT- Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

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II II awwmtoz ChdPZsaJfiusse/i CHARLES J. RUSSELL, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

GUITAR-REST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Application filed May 10, 1917. Serial No. 167,673.

ToaZZ whom it may concern,

Be it known. that I, CHARLES J. RUssnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guitar-Rests; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willvenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in rests or supports for guitars when guitar steels are used in playing. Heretofore, so far as I am aware, the performer was obliged to rest the neck of the instrument upon the leg above the knee, with the result that it was very difiicult to maintain the instrument properly in place for use, since the neck readily moves or slips over the garment of the performer, and particularly is this the-case when the instrument is used by a lady. But Whether the performer is a lady or gentleman, the difficulty of maintaining the instrument in proper position while performing has existed to a very large degree, and this difiiculty greatly interferes with the performers work.

My object is to overcome this difliculty, and to this end I provide what I call a rest, which consists of, a support having a base curved to conform approximately to the curve of the limb, which forms the support for the guitar. Pivotally mounted on this base is an upright member, having two arms adapted to engage the neck of the instrument 011 opposite sides, the upper extremities of the arms being bent slightly inwardly to form catches which engage the neck of the instrument from above. These arms are connected by a cross piece in which is threaded a vertically disposed screw, whose upper extremity is provided with a swiveled washer or disk which is adapted to engage the neck of the instrument from below. By virtue of this construction and arrangement, the neck of the instrument is securely connected with the rest, and as the base of the latter is well adapted to maintain its position, the performer experiences no difliculty in maintaining the instrument in proper position.

Attention is called to the fact that the upright member of the rest is approximately the sameheight or thickness as the body of the instrument, thus leveling up the instrument, so to speak, when in use. Under the previous practice, where the neck of the instrument rests directly upon the limb of the performer, the instrument is necessarily tilted or made to assume a position which renders the work of playing more diflicult than when the neck is supported by my improved rest, as will be readily understood.

Having briefly outlined my improvement, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof. In this drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a guitar in use in connection with my improvement.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the device shown on a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate my improved guitar rest, considered in its entirety, and consisting of a base 6, an upright bifurcated member 7, a cross piece 8, and a screw 9 threaded in the cross piece. The base is curved downwardly whereby it is adapted to conform approximately to the shape of the limb of the performer, upon which it rests. The upright member 7 is approximately U shaped and, as illustrated in the drawing, is composed of a single piece of relatively thin metal. It consists of a horizontal lower part 10, arms 12 extending upwardly therefrom, said arms being bent out wardly at 13, whereby parts 1 1 are formed which are arranged on opposite sides of the neck 15 of the instrument, the upper extremities of the arms being bent inwardly as shown at 16 to engage the neck from above. These parts 16 are relatively short and engage the neck outside of the area where the strings of the instrument are arranged, and consequently do not interfere in any way with the performers work.

The part 10 of the upright member is pivotally connected with the center of the base 6 by means of a rivet 17. By virtue of this arrangement, the upright member may be adjusted to form any desired angle with the base. The lower portions of the arms 12 are parallel With each other and these inner surfaces While the nuts engage the arms on their opposite surfaces. The pertions of the arms above the cross piece are; adapted to be bent or shaped to conform to the neck of the guitar, and for this reason these arms are made of metal which may be bent either outwardly or inwardly to cause .jections' 16 engage opposite sides.

. correspond them to fit guitar necks of varying size. Hence the same rest may be employed with practically any guitar, since there is no great variation in the width of the necks of these instruments.

The cross piece 8 is provided with a vertically disposed threaded perforation adapted to receive the screw 9, whose lower extremity has a milled head 20 to facilitate the manipulation or adjustment of the screw, whileits upper extremity is provided witha swiveled disk 21 to whose upper surface is applied a cushion 22 of rubber, felt Or any other suitable material adapted to prevent the disk from marring the instrument.

In applying the device to the instrument, the arms are arranged on opposite sides of the neck and so adjusted that the short prothe neck at the top on The screw 9 is then adjusted to cause the cushioned surface of the disk 21 to engage the neck from below, thus securing the device firmly to the neck of the instrument. When the instrument. is in use the leaseti rests upon the limb of the performer, well illustrated in Fig. 1, the

u )rip'ht member bein turned 11 7011 the base l e l to enable the performer to hold the instrument at any desired angle.

l urthermore, the rest properly supports the neck of the instrument or levels it up to approximately with the thickness or. vertical depth of the body portion.

The instrument is then manipulated in the usual manner, except that the performer 1s Copies 0! thil patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the entirely relieved from the usual difiiculty of maintaining the instrument properly in position when in use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A rest for guitars and similar instruments. including a base and an upright member adapted to be connected with the neck of the instrument and support the neck when the instrument is in level playing position, the height of the upright memher being approximately the sameas the depth of the body of the instrument.

2. A rest for guitars or similar instruments, including a base whose lower surface is shaped to engage the performers leg and an upright member swiveled to the base and adapted to be attached to the neck of the instrument and support the neck when the instrument is in level playing position, the upright member being of the same height approximately as the depth of the body of the instrument.

3. A rest for guitars and similar instruments, comprising a base adapted to engage the players leg, an upright member having arms spaced to engage the neck of the instrument from opposite sides, the ends of the arms being turned inwardly to engage the neck from above, and an adjustable member for engaging the neck of the instrument from below.

4. A rest for guitars and similar instruments, including a base whose lower surface is concavely curved, and an upright member including arms spaced to engage the neck of the instrument from opposite sides, a cross piece mounted on the arms,

and a screw threaded in an, opening in the cross piece and adjustable to engage the neck of the instrument from below.

5. A rest for guitars or similar instruments, including a base whose lower surface is concavely curved, and an upright member including arms whose upper extren'iiities are turned inwardly to engage the neck of the instrument from above and an adjustable member adapted to engage the neck of the instrument from below to secure the rest firmly to the neck.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CHARLES .J. RUSSELL.

"Commissioner 0! Patents.

Washington, D. 0. 

